Overview of Findings
When a consumer expresses his or her attitude toward a brand, s/he is typically expressing an overall evaluation that summarizes, in general, the way the individual feels about the brand. Research has shown, however, that one’s overall attitude toward a brand is just the tip of the iceberg concerning the way the individual feels about the brand. Below the surface of the general attitude are the specific beliefs that the consumer holds with respect to a brand. For example, you might indicate that your overall attitude toward McDonald’s is good; but the reason your attitude is good is because you think the food tastes good, or because the service is fast, or because McDonald’s is a good place to take your kids, etc.

For this research, the authors were interested in understanding how certain below-the-surface factors affect a consumer’s general attitude. In particular, the authors were interested to see if the below-the-surface factors of someone’s attitude are different depending on whether the person is a heavy or light user of a particular brand.

Some of the below the surface factors related to attitude that were studied by the researchers were:

• Attitude-Affective Consistency: Defined as the degree of consistency between a person's overall attitude and the level of affect or feeling associated with the brand.
• Attitude-Belief Consistency: Defined as the degree of consistency between a person’s overall attitude and the beliefs associated with the brand.
• Brand Accessibility: Defined as the speed and ease with which a brand name can be recalled from memory.
• Brand Knowledge: Defined as the quantity of knowledge one has about a brand.

In a study on attitudes toward fast food restaurants, participants were divided into two groups: those who indicated that they were frequent visitors of Arby’s (that is, heavy users) and those who indicated they were infrequent visitors of Arby’s (that is light users).

The researchers found that indeed, the below-the-surface factors associated with an attitude were different for heavy versus light users of Arby’s. Specifically, for heavy users, Brand Accessibility was strongly related to Attitude-Affective Consistency. This means that for heavy users, it appears that one’s feelings are strongly related to brand name recall. In contrast, for light users, Brand Accessibility was strongly related to Brand Knowledge. This means that for light users, it appears that one’s knowledge, and not one’s feelings of a brand is strongly related to brand name recall.

The results from this study suggest that if advertisers would follow different message strategies, they should be able to improve brand recall for heavy versus light users. Therefore, in a second study, participants were once again divided into heavy and light users of a fast food restaurant, but this time the restaurant used was Taco Bell. Two advertisements were developed; one was an informative ad that directly addressed several attributes related to Taco Bell such as good taste and low prices. A second ad was more of an emotional ad that referred to the experience of going to Taco Bell such as how Taco Bell looks, feels, and smells different from other restaurants.

It was found that for heavy users, brand name recall was higher for the emotional ad than for the informative ad. Conversely, for light users it was found that brand name recall was higher for the informative ad than for the emotional ad.

Significance of the research
The overall implication of these results is that heavy and light users of a brand do differ with respect to their below-the-surface components of an attitude. Specifically, it seems that heavy users of a brand are more influenced by emotional rather than rational aspects of a brand, and that light users are more influenced by rational rather than emotional aspects of a brand. Further, these differences affect the way heavy and light brand users respond to different kinds of advertising.

This suggests that advertisers of a brand should consider whether the intended audience is comprised of mainly heavy or mainly light users of a brand. Specifically, advertising for a new brand, with few heavy users, should consider a rational approach to the advertising. Conversely, advertising for well-established brands, where the goal is to maintain brand loyalty, should consider an emotional approach to the advertising.

As a consumer, this research suggests that you need to be aware of the fact that you may be more susceptible to a particular type of advertising message depending on whether you are a heavy or light user of a brand. When viewing advertising, try to determine if the approach is more rational or more emotional. Chances are that you will be more accepting of an emotional ad if you are already a heavy user of the brand than if you are a light user.

References
Jewell Robert D. and H. Rao Unnava, (2004) "Exploring Differences in Attitudes between Light and Heavy Brand Users," Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 14 (1 & 2), 75-80.